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A soul warming weekend breakfast for those cold winter mornings… and a welcome change from the usual pancakes.  Plus – making the most of the short but sweet Fig Season! INGREDIENTS: 8 mission figs 4 Slices of sourdough bread 2 Tbsp. MVH Kāmahi Honey plus some for drizzling125gm mascarpone 2cm of ginger, grated 2 Tbsp. roughly chopped walnuts METHOD: Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan bake. Slice the figs in half and arrange on a lined baking tray. Drizzle the honey over the top and pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the figs look caramelised. While the figs are cooking, combine the mascarpone with the fresh ginger and mix to combine.   Toast your sourdough and spread a good dollop of the mascarpone over each slice. Top with the caramel

Honey bees are amazing creatures who work harmoniously together to produce the sweet, tasty honey we all know and love. Although they look similar, within a hive there are three distinctly different honey bees, each playing an important part in the honey making process. These include the Queen Bee, the drones and the worker bees. Every hive consists of one Queen Bee, hundreds of drones and 20,000-80,000 worker bees, along with brood (eggs, larvae and pupae). The role of the Queen Bee is to lay fertilized eggs. She does this by mating early in life and storing millions of sperm within her body. When she’s ready to lay eggs, she can lay up to 2,000 eggs in a single day! Drones are the male honey bees, who are hatched from unfertilized eggs. Their sole task is mating new

Behind the scenes, the team at Mountain Valley Honey (MVH) have been busy working away at something rather exciting. After 10 years, Murray and Nicky felt it was time for a fresh new look, so they enlisted the help of local design company NOKNOK to help. Together with NOKNOK, the team created a new design for their labels that reflects the quality of the honey but keeps the essence of the old label’s customers associate with. The team have kept the colours of the labels the same as the existing labels but created individual hand-drawn illustrations for each variety of honey. However, customers can be assured that inside the jars is still the same high quality, natural honey – just in a unique new label! MVH also enlisted the help of NOKNOK to put together our bra

Here at Mountain Valley Honey, we always enjoy tried & true family recipes. Ingredients 125g butter½ cup caster sugar1 egg yolk2 cups plain flour1 tsp. baking soda¼ cup MVH Rātā Honey (warmed) Method Soften butter and beat with caster sugar until light and creamy.Add egg yolk and beat well.Sift flour and baking soda together. Fold into the creamed mixture with warmed honey.Cover and chill for 30 minutes.Kneed mixture gently on a lightly floured surface. Roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper until 0.5cm thick.Using a 4.5cm cutter, cut rounds from dough. Arrange on a greased tray, space apart as they spread a little.Bake at 180°C for 8-12 minutes until firm to touch.When cool, sandwich together with white or pink icingEnjoy with your nearest and dearest 😊

At Mountain Valley Honey, a common question we get asked is “why is some honey in liquid form, and others more solid?” In this month’s blog post, owner and master beekeeper, Murray Elwood will give you the answer. Crystallization (or settling) is a natural process for almost all raw honeys. It shows the honey hasn’t been over-filtered or processed, as crystallization occurs when honey contains minute particles of pollen and wax. Our raw Kāmahi Honey showing different stages of crystallization, a natural process that shows the honey has not been over-processed. Why does honey crystalize? Crystallization occurs in raw honey due to it naturally containing high levels of glucose (anywhere from 25 to 40%). Glucose is less soluble in water than Fructose, and so it more easi

Ingredients SUMMER CRUMBLE 8 stalks rhubarb cut into 1cm pieces300g boysenberries (fresh or frozen)100ml MVH Beech Honeydew Honey TOPPING 60g butter softened60g rolled oats60g plain flour40g brown sugar1 tsp. ground cinnamon Method Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bakePlace the rhubarb and berries in an ovenproof dish about the size of a quiche dish. Drizzle the honey over the fruit.Place all the ingredients into a bowl and rub together until like coarse breadcrumbs.Sprinkle over the fruit.Bake 20 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown.Serve warm with yoghurt, ice-cream or custard.

“Our role as beekeepers is to ensure our bees are in the best environment, that they are well looked after, so they can produce good quality honey.” When it comes to producing a jar of Mountain Valley Honey, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes, and our team of beekeepers play a crucial part. So, in this month’s blog, we thought we would give you a little insight into what that part is. Mountain Valley Honey co-owner, Murray Elwood has been a beekeeper for 26 years and says that a beekeeper’s work changes from season to season. “Each day we start with an 8am meeting to go over health and safety, and confirm who is going where for the day. “At this time of year, we do our final check of the beehives before the honey flow. “We check for any disease

As a primary producer, Mountain Valley Honey feels a connection to the land and the bees during the honey making process. That’s why MVH know how easy it is to get caught up in the “convenience” options of today’s busy world. But co-owner, Nicky Elwood, says it’s important to her and the business to continually look for ways to reduce their waste and use products that can be reused or repurposed. “It’s important to us to be sustainable whilst ensuring our honey remains at the highest quality, and the product arrives to the customer safely.” Mountain Valley Honey have been looking particularly at their use of plastics within their processes and how they can reduce it – and they’ve come up with a clever solution. “Our 1kg jars are our most popular si

In honey markets worldwide, there will always be honey that is marketed as something it’s not. So, obtaining a ‘Certificate of Licence’ is crucial to ensuring the authenticity of honey for consumers. Mountain Valley Honey have just received ours through a membership programme allowing the use of the known and trusted ‘New Zealand Made’ trademark. The ‘New Zealand Made’ trademark is a brand to showcase New Zealand’s fabulous products, produced right here in Aotearoa. For Mountain Valley Honey co-owner, Nicky Elwood, it’s a fantastic way to promote and have pride in New Zealand and the amazing products it grows and produces. “We join every year, as we love having the trademark on our products to give our customers that extra confidence they’re buying a

Our Honey Orange Muffins made with our Native Bush Honey are a delicious and easy treat, tried and tested by many of the team here at Mountain Valley Honey. No fancy ingredients, just the good old classics, delicious! Ingredients 2 cups flour4 tsp. baking powder1/4 cup sugarGrated rind of 2 oranges75g butter1/4 cup MVH Native Bush Honey1 egg3/4 cup orange juice or milk Instructions Place flour, baking powder, sugar and orange rind into a large bowl and mix well.Using another bowl, melt the butter then add the honey and heat gently. Cool the mixture and then add the egg. Measure the orange juice and if necessary add milk to make it up to 3/4 cup. Add to the melted butter mixture.Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and fold gently together.Grease 12 muffin pans

Mountain Valley Honey is getting behind ‘Bee Aware Month’ this September by supporting stores that are doing good for the industry, like Commonsense, with a few BAM goodies! It makes sense for Commonsense and Mountain Valley Honey to team up. They’ve been working side by side since Nicky and Murray Elwood bought the business 10 years ago. In that time, Mountain Valley Honey has remained consistent and accessible, no matter what changes have occurred in the honey industry of Aotearoa, New Zealand, says merchandising manager for Commonsense, Teva Stewart. “We really enjoy our relationship and we’re grateful to their commitment to sustainable beekeeping and in helping raise awareness of these wonderful little creatures,” he says. “Bees are crucial to us at Commo

To the victor goes the spoils – or more appropriately, two Bronze Medals were awarded to Mountain Valley Honey for our Kamahi and Honeydew honey. What was just as special was sharing the win with other awardees at the recent Apiculture New Zealand Conference. The annual event is an opportunity for beekeepers nationwide to gather and listen to international speakers, attend workshops, learn skills for a variety of areas in their business, and keep up with the latest innovations within the Apiculture industry. Our Kamahi and Honeydew honey were entered into the liquid honey medium and dark class, which had to meet a high standard of the following criteria: ColourCleanliness/lintForeign matterWaxFoamClarity / brightness & absence of granulationDensity/viscosityAromaFlav